Five Great Books set in NORTHERN ITALY
Mystery set in Northumberland and Florence
21st November 2018
The Hermitage by L J Ross, mystery set in Northumberland and Florence.
This is the 9th outing for DCI Ryan and this time he is not confined to the North East of England.
There are two storylines over a 1000 miles apart. Near Warkworth, at the Hermitage, the ferryman on the River Coquet is found murdered. He is a bit of a recluse, someone who has been keeping himself to himself and as the story peels back, it becomes clear he is not all he seems.
Ryan and his new wife Anna are hotly pursuing their nemesis, Nathan Armstrong. Both have history with him but he has managed to evade being charged with previous murders, although his culpability is absolutely clear, evidence has been insufficient. He is currently in the midst of a book signing tour across Europe – his book “Il Mostro’ has been a chart topper for a long time. It details the pattern of a serial killer which coincidentally seems a little close to home; after all, Armstrong has seemingly killed people before and with new deaths coming to light, coinciding with his book tour stops, all paths seem to point in one direction.
The Ryans arrive at Villa Lucia, not far from Piazzale Michelangelo in the city and settle in to plot their strategy. The local police need winning over and there is still quite some investigating to be done. An evening at the Uffizi – a masked gathering to add an extra layer of frisson – for one of Nathan Armstrong’s book signings sees a real turn in events and by this time his close ally from Newcastle, Frank Phillips and his fiancée Denise MacKenzie, are on the scene. They are struggling with their own wedding plans but with mounting deaths, they must put their personal issues to one side.
Intrigue, Mafia connections and negotiating Florentine Polizia procedurals combine to make this a very readable and buzzy book.
The inspiration for DCI Ryan’s villa in Florence
L J Ross has a very loyal following and it is justifiably increasing all the time. She is a fine example of an author who has made self-publishing work for her. It is a lovely series that is easy to read, the chapters are connective and don’t leave the reader hanging for prolonged periods. Is L J Ross the Donna Leon of Northumberland, with a brief outing to Florence? Yes, actually I think she is, but check out her books for yourself.
This can be read as a stand-alone.
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